


Acuality

by bandedbulbussnarfblat



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Break Up, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 09:14:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18808168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bandedbulbussnarfblat/pseuds/bandedbulbussnarfblat
Summary: “We both know I’m not who you want.”





	Acuality

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea to rewrite 4x13 and make the scene with Alice and Quentin talking before going to the mirror world a break up scene. Since I'll probably never get around to actually writing that fic, I wrote a version of that scene here.

“We need to talk.”

Quentin looks ready to interrupt her, so Alice pushes on, “I think we should break up.”

“What?”

Quentin sounds confused, and not nearly as devastated as she’d like. “I don’t want to be with someone who settled for me. I want to be wanted.”

There’s something in Quentin’s eyes, a brief flicker of uncertainty or maybe guilt. “I’m not–I didn’t-”

“Yes, you did,” Alice says, sharp and to the point. “And it’s fine, I get it. Being alone sucks.”

“Alice, I wasn’t lying when I said I want you in my life.”

There’s a lump in her throat she has to swallow, but this needs to be said, “I want you in mine too. And we can still be. We could be friends. I think I’d like us to be friends.”

Quentin is stubborn, he’ll argue this even if she isn’t what he wants. As much as he’s changed, he still prefers fantasy to reality. The idea of them has always been better than the actuality.

So she says the one thing that she knows will hurt the most, the way the truth always does, “We both know I’m not who you want.”

Quentin flinches at the words. There’s no denying it, that he wants someone else. “I think I’ve known since I found you in bed together. I just didn’t want to admit it.”

He looks like he might be sick, “It wasn’t like that, it didn’t happen until later. Or maybe it was happening all along and I couldn’t see it.”

There are tears in his eyes and he laughs, slightly hysterical, “It doesn’t matter, because he doesn’t want me. Not like that.”

He swipes a quick hand over his eyes, “Let’s just focus on saving him.”

Alice reaches out and grips his hand, “We’ll get him back, Quentin.”

“Yeah. Yeah, we’ll get him back.”


End file.
